Obama joins Xi in Paris for UN climate talks

A man walks between shoes as hundreds of pairs of shoes are displayed at the place de la Republique, as part of a symbolic and peaceful rally called by the NGO Avaaz “Paris sets off for climate”

As more than 140 world leaders converge on Paris for the opening of United Nations-sponsored talks on lowering carbon emissions, French Environment Minister Segolene Royal said a deal may fall short of what’s needed to curb global warming.
“There is a risk that the accord won’t meet the challenges,” Royal said in a television interview yesterday. A deal that is “ambitious, binding and universal” hasn’t yet been reached, she said.
The French minister was speaking against the backdrop of tight security in Paris that led authorities to close major highways and urge residents to stay home, if possible, on Monday. With leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama and China’s Xi Jinping traveling for the opening of the climate meeting today, a massive police presence was on hand in central parts of the city such as the Champs-Elysees.
“We are on the right track” toward a deal, Royal said in the interview. More than 170 countries have pledged to lower emissions, although only enough to keep the world on a trajectory for a 3-degree Celsius increase in global temperatures and not the 2-degree target set in previous climate talks, she said.
France remains under a state of emergency following the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks that left 130 dead. As part of heightened security following the killings and surrounding the climate talks, the highways leading north and south out of Paris is shut to normal traffic from yesterday afternoon to late today, as will a northern stretch of the “peripherique,” the road that circles the city.
With public demonstrations banned across the country and a march in Paris organized by environmental groups canceled, people left hundreds of pairs of shoes at the central Place de la Republique Sunday as a symbol of their support for a climate deal. Hundreds of people were also gathering to form a human chain. Bloomberg

french police detain climate protesters

French authorities detained at least 150 people for questioning after a demonstration in favor of a global climate accord in central Paris turned into a violent clash between protesters and riot police. Television images yesterday showed demonstrators throwing projectiles at police who charged crowds and dragged people away near the Place de la Republique, a traditional rallying place for marches in the capital.